Three Babbar Khalsa terrorists arrested in Delhi

     New Delhi: Three suspected Babbar Khalsa terrorists have been arrested in the north-west region of the Capital early today. The three arrested are Jasbir, Bhupender and Paramjit Singh. Paramjit Singh is a close associate of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) chief Jagtar Singh Hawara. They were arrested from Nanglipura area around 6 a.m., the police said. Four kg RDX, detonators and a pistol has been seized from them, they added. Paramjit is also suspected of having played a role in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. BKI is among the oldest Khalistan terrorist groups. The BKI traces its origin to the Babbar Akali Movement of 1920. The BKI wants an independent Sikh state called Khalistan. Khalistan is the envisioned state, which means "Land of the Pure" by its proponents.

LS reprimands four MPs in MPLAD scam (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Lok Sabha today reprimanded four members who were held guilty in the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLADs) scam and suspended them for their "improper conduct" in the implementation of the scheme till March 22. A resolution, moved by the Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee, was unanimously adopted by the House. The four members who were involved in the scam are former Congress Goa Chief Minister Churchil Alemao, Paras Nath Yadav (SP), Faggan Singh Kulaste (BJP) and Ramswaroop Koli (BJP). This was the first time that any member has been reprimanded by the House which had handed out other forms of punishment like admonition, suspension and expulsion.

    The Parliamentary Committee, headed by Kishore Chandra Deo that probed the MPLADs scam on March 14 had recommended the suspension of four MPs. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on December 20 last year asked the MPs in the scam abstain from attending the Parliament. The Committee said that the period of abstention should be deemed to be their suspension from membership of the House. VK Malhotra (BJP), Mohammad Saleem (CPI-M), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), C Kuppuswamy(DMK), Prasanna Acharya (BJP) and D P Yadav (RJD) are the other members of the committee. The 51-page report, submitted by the Committee recommended only suspension and not expulsion, saying the "improper conduct on their part did not, strictly speaking, relate to their Parliamentary duties and none of them was actually shown as accepting money". The five Lok Sabha members who came under scanner over alleged irregularities committed by them while spending their MPLAD funds caught under the 'Operation Chakravyuh', a sting operation by a television channel. The Centre on March 9 had said that the MPLAD scheme will continue to stay albeit with certain improvements to prevent its misuse and corruption.

Sangeet Natak Akademi awards
presented  (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: President APJ Abdul Kalam today gave away the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the year 2005 for outstanding contribution in the field of performing arts. Presenting the awards at a special ceremony here, President Kalam said that music touches the heart and mind and evolves good human beings and society. Calling upon the artists to use performing art for achieving the unity of minds, Kalam said, "I am fully convinced that if this happens, the disturbing acts like conflicts and terrorism, etc. could be reduced". He urged the Sangeet Natak Academi to encourage the young and budding artists as culture needs nourishment in the form of young performers. The awardees receive Rs. 50,000, a Tamrapatra and a shawl.

PIL against UP minister dismissed (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed the public interest litigation (PIL) filed against Uttar Pradesh Haj and Minority Affairs minister Yaqoob Qureshi who had announced the controversial reward of Rs 51 crore for beheading the Danish cartoonist who caricatured Prophet Mohammed. The petitioner Vijay Kumar Tiwari had filed the PIL against Qureshi for his inflammatory and criminal speech. A bench of Justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice C K Thakker and Justice A R Lakshmanan said that all statements in a controversial issue could not be entertained in PILs. The bench termed the episode as "unfortunate" and said that the petitioner could file a criminal complaint against Qureshi. The petition moved by Tiwari was mentioned before a bench headed by Justice B N Agarwal on March 1. The court refused to give the matter any urgency and said it would be heard on March 20, which was the date fixed by the court registry. Qureshi had at a rally in Meerut on February 17 announced the reward for Rs 51 crore and had also offered the ''would-be killer'' gold equivalent to the weight of the cartoonist. The statement invited widespread condemnation and a criminal case was filed in a Ghaziabad court on February 21 against Qureshi.

Arjun Singh, Bhardwaj elected
unopposed (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Union Ministers Arjun Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Hansraj Bhardwaj and Dasari Narayan Rao were today nominated unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. From Madhya Pradesh, senior Congress leader and Union Human Resource and Development Minister Arjun Singh, BJP nominees Sushma Swaraj, Vikram Verma, Narayan Singh Kesri and Anusuiya Uiekey were elected unopposed as only these five candidates filed their papers to fill up as many seats falling vacant. Of the five seats falling vacant next month in Madhya Pradesh, Congress held three and BJP two. The Congress nominee Arjun Singh, BJP nominees Vikram Verma and Narayan Singh Kesri were renominated.

    Former Delhi Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj was shifted from Uttaranchal and fielded from Madhya Pradesh. Former MLA Anusuiya Uiekey, a tribal was also fielded from Madhya Pradesh. Also, Union Law Minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj was declared elected unopposed from Haryana. Bhardwaj, who shifted from Madhya Pradesh to Haryana, was the lone candidate for the seat, which falls vacant after the retirement of Faqir Chand of Indian National Lok Dal next month. Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel (Nationalist Congress Party), former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi (Shiv Sena), journalist-turned- politician Rajiv Shukla (Congress), Vasant Chavan (NCP) and Prof Bal Apte (BJP) were elected unopposed from Maharashtra. They would fill up seats falling vacant against the retiring members--Yusuf Khan alias Dilip Kumar (Cong), R S Gavai (RPI- supported by Cong), Praful Patel and Vasant Chavan (both NCP), Prof Bal Apte (BJP) and Ram Jethmalani. Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Dasari Narayan Rao and K Kesava Rao, Rashid Alvi and G Sanjeeva Reddy (all Congress), Asif Bhasha (CPI) and M V Mysoora Reddy (TDP) were elected unopposed from Andhra Pradesh. BJP leaders Ramdas Agarwal and Krishan Lal Valmiki and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi were declared elected unopposed from Rajasthan. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Shree Gopal Vyas was elected unopposed from Chhattisgarh. Elections for the rest of the Rajya Sabh seats will be held on March 28 in Bihar (for 6 seats), Gujarat (4), Himachal Pradesh (1), Jharkhand (2), Karnataka (4), Uttar Pradesh (10), Uttaranchal(1), West Bengal (5) and Orissa (3).

Pak acting legend Muhammad Ali dies (Go To Top)

     Lahore: Pakistan's film legend Muhammad Ali passed away in Lahore yesterday at around 1.30 pm, leaving behind the legacy of an illustrious career in Lollywood. He died of cardiac arrest at his house, leaving his wife Zeba and daughter Samina to mourn his death, reported The News. The 69-year-old star started his career as a radio broadcaster in the mid-50s. A large number of his fans, Lollywood stars and other personalities reached his house soon after his death to pay condolences. Ali began his film career as a villain the film "Chiragh Jalta Raha" in 1962. Later in 1964, Ali played the hero of "Shararat". But, he could become a superstar after the release of his movie "Aag ka Darya" and then remained on top during the next 10 years. He will be remembered for his emotional acting and the best dialogue delivery. "Khamosh Raho", "Insaan aur Admi", "Insaaf aur Qanoon", "Salakhen" and "Doorian" were some of his all-time best films. PML president Ch. Shujaat Hussain and Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi also expressed grief over Ali's death and paid tributes to the late actor for his services.

India wins gold in men's table tennis (Go To Top)

     Melbourne: India today added another gold in its medals tally at the 18th Commonwealth Games by grabbing a 3-2 win over Singapore in the final of the Table Tennis men's team event. Subhajit Saha, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Soumyadeep Roy wining the next three matches after a deficit of 0-2, registered a victory for India. India had a disastrous start with Roy thrashed 0-3 by Zi Yang. Roy lost to Zi Yang 5-11, 3-11, 8-11 in the opening match and later Kamal lost to Li Xiao Cai 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 7-11, 8-11. National champion Saha, firmed his feet on the ground and pulled off one against Singaporean Jason Ho 3-1 with an inspiring performance of 10-12, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10. Kamal then levelling the scores beat Yang Zi 3-2 in a thrilling score of 5-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7. At this point of tie-up, Roy pulled up his confidence to beat Cai Xiao Li 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, declaring results in favour of India. Earlier today, India won a bronze medal in women's table tennis scripting a 3-2 victory over Canada. Indian team of Mouma Das, Poulomi Ghatak and Nandita Saha gave a tough competition to the Candian team of Xu Hong Guang, Mo Zhang and Yuen Sara to confirm a podium finish.

     Indian shooters Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang won the gold in men's 50 m rifle three positions pairs shooting event this morning. This was the second gold bagged by the shooter-duo at the event. They had also bagged gold in the Men's 10 metres Air Rifle pairs' event on Friday. Michael Brown and Ben Burge of Australia claimed silver and Jason Burrage and Chris Hector took bronze in the event. Sharpe shooter Tejaswini Sawant also won gold in the 10 meter Air Rifle women's individual event, while Avneet Kaur Sidhu has claimed silver in the same event. Sarmesh Jung and Jaspal Rana have bagged gold in the Men's 25 meter centre fire pistol event. India is on third position in the Games with 19 medals including eight gold, six silver and two bronze. Australia is at the top with 31 gold 24 silver and 23 bronze, while England is on second potion with 13 medals in each category. Fiji, Jamaica and Pakistan are the countries having performed most poorly till now as each have only one bronze to their name.

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